Exponential Technologies with Dr. Peter Diamandis
Recently named by Fortune as one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” Dr. Peter H. Diamandis has started over 20 companies in the areas of longevity, space, venture capital, and education. He’s the founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation and the executive founder of Singularity University, an institution that counsels the world’s leaders on exponentially growing technologies. Below we discuss the opportunities and challenges found in global Artificial Intelligence (AI) development.
Mediaplanet What are some of the factors shaping AI development globally?
Dr. Peter Diamandis Today’s primary fuel source for AI development is, by far, anunprecedented explosion of data. While still primarily concentrated among the Googles, Alibabas, and Facebooks of theworld, this abundance of data is now iteratively training countless machine learning models across everything from autonomous transit to strategy game simulations. Another key component to this data abundance is convergence: as proliferating sensors feed real-world data ( beyond exclusively online or mobile user activity) through Internet of Things (IOT) networks, Ai’s power is simultaneously amplified by rapid advances in computing — not to mention the exponential leap in AI’S ability to solve complex problems in the age of quantum computing. Beyond this convergence, however, other critical factors driving AI development include: machine learning expertise; an abundance of capital — from venture capitalists, sovereign wealth funds, tech behemoths funding home-grown applications, etc.; and a growing workforce of entrepreneurs who continue to identify new targets forai solutions— whether in novel drug discovery or niche educational applications.
MP Where are themain opportunities for growth and progress in AI development?
PD One of the areas I’m most excited about in convergence with AI is the longevity space. Take genomics for instance, where we’re seeing the dramatic demonetization of genome sequencing and correlations of genetic data with disease incidence. This is a perfect playground for AI, whose convergence with CRISPR will have powerful implications in the decade ahead. Or I often discuss the example of In si li co medicine, a company i’ve invested in through bold capital that leverages generative adversarial networks (or GANS — a subset of AI) to discover novel molecules, rapidly test drug candidates, and output those ideal for drug development. It’s AI breakthroughs like these that are disrupting and fundamentally reshapinghundred-billion- or even trillion-dollar industries like big pharma. Thanks to convergence sin machine learning and molecular biology, companies like Insilico are slated to dowith 50 people what the pharmaceutical industry can barely do with 5,000, in a fraction of the time.
MP Howcan organizations future- proof themselves and take advantage of exponential technologies?
PD While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer here, one of the tools and thinking methodologies I often use is what has been coined the “futures wheel.” I first examine the convergence of one or more exponential technologies (say AI and sensors, for instance), and an industry ( let’s take transportation). Then, I trace the first- order implications of that convergence. Using the example above, the first- order implications of AI and sensors’ convergence with transit could include autonomous ride-sharing, increased parking density, automated traffic lawenforcement, working or sleeping during your commute, the elimination of parking lots, decimated traffic accidents, and so on. Next, based on these first- order implications, we can determine with fair certainty the second- order business opportunities.
By tracking the convergence of exponential technologies, predicting initial implications to industry, and then projecting the mid-term effects of those implications, every business in any industry will be able to position its products and services for a 2025 or 2030 scenario, future-proofing its business model and leveraging the right technological tools to do so.